But Will It Mark a Turning Point? 2020 was a challenging year by lots of measures – and climate change was no exception.  While U.S. carbon dioxide emissions fell to their lowest level in three decades, local and global temperatures continued to rise.  If the economic freefall caused by the coronavirus pandemic couldn’t halt the...

On Day One in the White House, President Joe Biden signed an executive order recommitting our nation to fight global warming under the Paris climate accord.  Now it’s your turn to step up to the plate with your own pledge to combat climate change by installing clean, solar power, the sooner the better! If you...

For Homeowners Considering Solar, Congress Giveth and Vermont Taketh Away Homeowners looking to install solar power received welcome news from Congress over the Christmas holidays.  As part of an omnibus spending bill, Congress extended the federal Investment Tax Credit for solar energy by two years.  The 26% credit for residential installations now will remain in...

A new report says solar energy has saved Vermonters $79 million and New Englanders $1.1 billion in just six years.  That narrative runs counter to the long-running contention from utilities that solar development is driving up retail electricity prices for ratepayers. The study by Synapse Energy Economics, an environmental research and consulting firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts,...

“Let the sun shine!”  That’s the refrain some of us have been singing for 50 years now.” Will 2021 Finally Be the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius? At long last, it seems like the Age of Aquarius (for those of you old enough to remember) may finally be upon us.  We have a President-elect...

Now that the dust appears to have settled on the 2020 presidential election, what does the future hold for clean energy policy and solar investment tax credits? While control of the U.S. Senate won’t be known until two runoff elections are held in Georgia in early January, President-elect Biden has signaled some early actions he’ll take...

This graph is the electric mix from the 2020 Annual Energy Report, prepared by the Vermont Department of Public Service (January 15, 2020). This is 95% from 20th century facilities. These do absolutely nothing to solve climate change; if we don’t do anything different, nothing will change.  Partly by historical accident and partly by conniving,...

Have the Koch Brothers really infiltrated Vermont? Yes, the main argument used by the Vermont Public Service Department, the Public Utilities Commission and the Vermont utilities to kill solar is “cost shifting”. This argument was pushed by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a Koch Brothers funded think tank, at least as far back as 2014....

• Colorado’s two biggest wildfires on record have occurred in the last three months.  • September 2020 was the warmest September (world-wide) in 140 years of records, and seven of the warmest Septembers ever have occurred in the past seven years.  • California’s largest wildfire ever exceeds one million acres, larger than Rhode Island. This...

What, isn’t Vermont “Green”? Of course it is, right?  Wrong. Green Mountain Power, which is owned by a Canadian natural gas distributor and supplies 70% of Vermont with electricity, claims that their energy supply is 94% carbon free and more than 63% renewable. This sounds great, except that 95% of this electricity is produced in...

What if you electrified everything in your life? Your cars, home heating system, lawn mower –everything! Would it cost more to live that way and diminish your quality of life? The answer may surprise you. It might even mobilize you to take action!

The world’s response to Covid-19 may “reshape the future of energy,” the International Energy Agency predicts in its 2020 World Energy Outlook, released last week.  Renewables are the only energy source expected to grow this year, the report says.  Solar is taking “center stage” as a result of supportive government policies and declining costs, and...

In a changing climate, northern New England is the best place to be. That’s the finding of a 50-state analysis by the highly respected Rhodium Group. All of Vermont’s 14 counties are in the top 100 counties in the U.S. ranked to withstand heat waves, drought, wildfires and other climate risks, and eight neighboring counties...

You know the saying: “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” That’s becoming a more common expression in Vermont and New Hampshire these days.  We’ve already slogged through our first summer heat wave – five consecutive days of 90-degree-plus heat in late June.  The first half of July holds more of the same.  While forecast...

Some encouraging milestones on this Summer Solstice The summer solstice, traditionally called “midsummer”, but now more commonly thought of as the start of summer, is upon us!   As a quick reminder from that science class long, long before the advent of ‘remote learning’, the summer solstice occurs when one of the Earth’s poles has its...

Coronavirus will be with us for a while, complete with social distancing and masks on our faces – somber reminders of the difficult times we now face.  To buck up our spirits, let’s focus on building a future that’s brighter than our past, starting with climate change… and solar power.  Here are four reasons for...

A Lot Of Progress, a Lot Of Work Still To Do: As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we need look no further than our own Connecticut River to see what good can happen when lawmakers, civic groups and ordinary citizens band together.

Reflections on the time of Coronavirus from Solaflect Energy The coronavirus is fast emerging as the defining moment of our time.  While we do not yet know how long this tragic event will last, or how many lives and income may be lost, it is sure to change how we think about security, investments and...

We’ve had plenty of distressing environmental news lately, so it is exciting to see an environmental success. As a result of acid rain, Lake Colden, high in the Adirondack mountains of NY, was declared fishless 32 years ago. It was recently announced that a reproducing population of brook trout was discovered there. This is the...

Many of us live in Northern New England because we love the winter recreation that the region offers, and many others discover that the winters are long unless one embraces the recreational opportunities provided in the region. However, these recreational pursuits are in peril. A new article from Climate Central (“ON THIN ICE: How Climate...